Wild World
by arcaneocean
Summary: After the Maze, things aren't the same for Ruby. There's Teresa, for starters, who's making them kidnap this Thomas guy who apparently 'wronged her,' somehow. Then, there's also that strange boy from Group A who won't stop staring at her whenever they see each other. What exactly is going on? Ruby has no idea. Eventual Minho x OC (Title taken from Bastille's album, Wild World.)
1. Group A

**I do not own The Maze Runner Trilogy.**

 _"The wisdom we learn_

 _As our minds, they do burn_

 _All the ties to naivety and youth."_

 _—Haunt-Demo by Bastille_

* * *

Ever since they came out of The Maze, Ruby had been on edge. It hadn't helped that there had been some jacked stick who looked like a rat tell them that they had to find and kill this guy who had been in a maze like they had. That Teresa girl definitely wasn't helping, either. Honestly, who could go through such a hardship like the maze and want to kill somebody so badly like that?

 _Did you forget about Beth?_ Asked a tiny voice in the back of Ruby's head. Ruby told it to shut up, clenching her fist tighter around her bow, until it felt like splinters were digging into her dark skin.

"Everyone get ready!" Teresa shouted. "Thomas and his group are coming. Let's go!"

"Oi," Ruby whispered to Malala, the short girl next to her, "is that friggin' _Aris_ over there?"

Malala squinted and replied, "I think it is! Don't have a Griever's idea as to why he's there, though.

Ruby snorted softly. "Probably the same reason Miss High-and-Mighty is here with us."

They became quiet as they surrounded Group A, their weapons raised.

"What's this crap about, Teresa?" Asked an Asian guy, a scowl on his face. "Nice way to greet your long-lost buddies."

Teresa remained silent, as did the rest of Ruby's group, as they pointed their weapons at the boys. Suddenly, she walked towards them, stopping a yard or two away from the Asian guy and another boy, this one tall with longish blond hair.

"Teresa?" The blond guy asked. "What the bloody—"

"Shut up," Teresa told them calmly. She almost had no emotion, and for some reason, that made Ruby hate her just a little more. "Any of you makes a move, the bows start shooting." She raised the spear and began to search Group A.

Ruby felt her eye twitch.

Teresa came to a stop in front of a dark haired white boy, and Ruby assumed that must have been Thomas.

"Teresa," he whispered. "Teresa, what's—"

"Shut up," she told him with the same eerie calmness from before.

"But what—"

Suddenly, Teresa swung back and cracked the butt of her spear against his cheek. Thomas fell to the ground, clutching his face.

"I said shut up," Teresa told him with a little more force. "Is your name Thomas?"

Malala and Ruby exchanged glances. Shouldn't she know what this Thomas dude looked like?

Thomas seemed to share a similar mentality. "You know who I—"

She swung the spear even harder this time, and he cried out in pain.

"You know who I am!" Thomas screamed.

Teresa eyed him disgustedly. "I used to, anyway. Now I'm going to ask you one more time. Is your name Thomas?"

This time, he gave her a straight answer. _"_ _Yes!_ My name is Thomas!"

Nodding, Teresa backed away, still pointing her spear at him. As she rejoined the circle of girls, she told him, "You're coming with us, Thomas. Come on. Remember, anyone tries something, arrows fly."

"No way!" the Asian guy yelled. "You're not taking him anywhere!"

Ignoring him, Teresa faced Thomas with a cold glint in her eyes. "This isn't some stupid game. I'm going to start counting. Every time I hit a multiple of five, we'll kill one of you with an arrow. We'll do it until Thomas is the only one left, then we'll take him anyway."

Ruby's eyes widened incredulously. This was _not_ what she agreed to. She agreed to kill one guy, not an entire group!

"One!" Teresa yelled.

Apparently, that was enough. Thomas shoved his way through the group of boys until their faces were almost touching. "Fine," he told her. "Take me."

"I only made it to 'one.'"

"Yeah. I'm really brave that way."

Somehow, despite the ugly situation unfolding before them, Ruby had to restrain herself from snorting. She kind of liked this Thomas guy. She liked him a whole lot more than she liked Teresa, anyways. Even if she knew it was pointless, she began to hope they could find a way out of killing this guy.

Teresa hit him with the spear again, and Thomas hit the ground again. He spat, and blood spattered onto the dirt.

"Bring the bag," Teresa commanded.

Harriet and Ruby both came forward, holding the burlap sack and stood in front of Thomas as he got to his knees.

"We're taking him with us!" Declared Teresa. "If anybody follows, I'll hit him again, and we'll start shooting you. We won't really bother aiming. Just let the arrows fly any old way they feel like."

Ruby couldn't hold back a snort that time. Maybe she'd let an arrow 'slip' and hit Teresa.

"Got something you wanna say, Ruby?" Teresa asked, her face dark and angry.

Feeling unimpressed, Ruby just shrugged. "Nah."

"Teresa!" It was the Asian dude again. "You catch the Flare that quickly? You're mind's obviously gone already."

Again, Teresa slammed the butt of her spear into Thomas's face, and Ruby winced as he fell to his stomach. The guy's probably got a concussion by now.

"Anything else you wanna say?" Teresa demanded. After a moment of silence, she said haughtily, "Didn't think so. Put the bag over him."

As she and Harriet began to grab Thomas and put him into the bag, Ruby accidentally made eye contact with the Asian guy. Feeling guilty, she immediately pursed her lips and looked away, but she could feel his eyes practically burning holes onto her back. She looked over at him and mouthed the words, "I'm sorry," before she turned back to Thomas.

"Don't resist," she told him quietly, "or it'll just get worse."

Thomas looked at her in confusion, as if he couldn't comprehend why Ruby was being sympathetic towards him.

"Yeah," Harriet agreed. "Better to just go along and let us kill you. Doesn't do you any good to have a lot of pain on the way."

Then, they slipped the bag over his head, and that was that.

* * *

Minho kept staring at the dark skinned girl with dreadlocks that was shoving his buddy into a sack. What the shuck did she mean, she was sorry? If she were sorry, why didn't she let Thomas go? Or maybe... maybe there was something bigger happening. Maybe that group didn't have a say in the matter, maybe Teresa and the Rat Man were teamed up together or something.

 _Or something,_ Minho thought to himself sardonically as he watched Group B carry his friend away in a burlap sack.


	2. Taking Thomas

**I do not own The Maze Runner Trilogy.**

 _"An act of kindness_

 _is what you show to me_

 _It caught me by surprise in this town of glass and ice."_

— _An_ _Act of Kindness by Bastille_

* * *

As they began to lift Thomas, he squirmed. "Teresa!" He shouted. "Don't do this to me!"

She punched him in the stomach this time, and he howled in pain.

"Since you obviously don't care about yourself," Teresa told him, "talk again and we'll start shooting your friends. That sound good to you?"

He said nothing, and if it weren't for the fact that he was trembling inside the bag, Ruby would've thought that he had already keeled over and died. Again, when she looked up, she found the same guy staring at her. He seemed confused this time, as if he were questioning her motives. Ruby snorted. _I'd like to know just what the hell I'm thinking, too, Pretty Boy._ Ruby stopped short at that thought. _Pretty Boy?_ Why did she call him Pretty Boy? Quickly, Ruby looked away from him, focusing on carrying the sack.

"I meant what I said!" Teresa called out to Group A. "There won't be a warning. Follow us and the arrows start flying!" Then, without warning, she knelt down by the bag, grabbed what must've been Thomas's face, and started whispering.

"What're you saying to him?" Malala asked, growing tired.

"I'm letting him know just how much I'm enjoying this," Teresa snapped. "How much I'm enjoying my revenge. Do you mind?"

Malala huffed. "Well, I'm glad you're having so much fun. But we need to hurry."

"I know." Teresa whispered something else to Thomas before standing back up. "Okay, let's get out of here. Make sure you hit as many rocks as you can along the way."

As they began dragging Thomas away, Ruby, against her better judgement, looked back at Group A. She wasn't surprised to see Pretty Boy— _Stop calling him that. He is_ not _pretty; he is the enemy here_ —still staring at her. When he noticed he had her attention, he gave her a look that seemed to ask, _If you're regretting this so much, why are you doing it?_ All she could do was mouth the words "No choice," and hope he somewhat understood. She turned her back on Pretty Boy as they got further away.

Just before they got out of sight, Pretty Boy began shouting. "Thomas!" He yelled at the top of his lungs. "We'll find you! We'll save you from those shucking shanks! We just have to wait until the time is right, and we have enough weapons! I'll kill that shank myself! Thomas!" He stopped when Teresa punched him in the stomach.

 _He has a nice voice,_ Ruby mused, then immediately berated herself. How stupid could she be? This was literally the apocalypse, and here she was, acting all stupid over some—some _guy!_

Thankfully, Thomas pulled her out of her conflicting train of thought when he said, "Why don't you just let me walk! I mean, you _do_ have weapons. What am I gonna do?"

Kicking him in the side, Teresa responded, "Shut up, Thomas. We're not idiots. We're waiting until your Glader buddies can't see us anymore."

"Huh? Why?"

"Because that's what we were _told_ to do," Teresa snapped. "Now shut up!"

"Why'd you tell him that?" Marie hissed agitatedly.

Teresa shrugged. "What does it matter? We're gonna kill him anyway. Who cares if he knows what we were told to do?"

"Well," Sonya said, squinting in the direction of where they left Group A, "I can barely see them now. Once we reach that crevice up there, we'll be out of sight, and they'll never find us after that. Even if they do follow."

Nodding firmly, Teresa commanded, "All right, then. Let's get him that far."

Ruby, Harriet, Sonya, and Teresa all lifted Thomas and began to carry him up the mountain.

"All right," Teresa said once they reached the crevice, "drop him." And they did.

Ruby winced a little as she heard Thomas gasping for air while they untied him. The rest of the group was pointing their weapons while Ruby worked on cutting off the knot tied in the ropes around Thomas.

"You guys must think a lot of me," Thomas said sarcastically. "Twenty of you with your knives and machetes, me with nothing. I feel so special."

Ruby snickered, catching Thomas's attention for a split second.

"Wait!" He cried out as Teresa lifted her spear once more. He held out his hands in a gesture of surrender as he slowly got to his feet. "Look, I'm not gonna try anything. Just take me wherever we're going and then I'll let you kill me like a good boy. I don't have any shuck thing to live for anyway." He looked at Teresa, his face filled with hurt, bitterness, and spite.

"Come on," Teresa said. "I'm sick of this. Let's go to the inside of the Pass so we can sleep the day off. Tonight we'll start heading through."

Sonya, Harriet, and Ruby all shared a look.

"And what about this stick we've been carrying around for the last few hours?" Ruby asked skeptically.

Teresa looked at Thomas long and hard as she responded. "Don't worry, we'll kill him. We'll kill him just the way they told us to. It's his punishment for what he did to me."

At this, Ruby frowned. Thomas looked so helplessly confused at Teresa's words, so did that mean she was lying? Did Thomas really not do anything to her? Teresa had made Thomas sound like some disgusting, awful excuse of a human being that had destroyed everything she loved, but he honestly seemed like an okay guy, all things considered. So that made Ruby wonder—what exactly was Teresa's plan?

* * *

 **A/N**

 **I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Sorry for the lack of Minho; I'm trying to stick pretty close to the original plot as I can, which means there won't really be any Minho/Ruby moments for a while. Also, I just wanted to say a quick thank you to Neonsweet for following and favoriting this story! That means a lot!**

 **PS: See if you can guess who Ruby was named for!**


	3. (Sort of) Meeting Minho

**I do not own The Maze Runner Trilogy.**

 _"In these bodies we will live,_

 _In these bodies we will die_

 _Where you invest your love,_

 _You invest your life."_

— _Awake My Soul by Mumford and Sons_

* * *

They were still walking. The camp wasn't too far off now, and Ruby was itching to see Joan, to make sure she was all right. If something happened to the kid, Ruby had no idea of what she'd do. Susie and Clara were there too, but Ruby didn't care as much as she did about Joan—a young girl who couldn't have been older than ten years old. When they finally arrived, Joan ran to Ruby and clutched her hand tightly.

"Okay, Teresa said. "Let's tie him to that ugly tree." The tree in question was indeed ugly; it had obviously not fared too well under the unforgiving heat of the Scorch, and it seemed like it might crumble if you sneezed in its direction. "And we might as well feed him so he doesn't moan and groan all day and keep us awake."

Ruby raised an eyebrow. _Dramatic much?_

Thomas didn't put up a fight as Malala, Harriet, and Sonya tied his torso to the trunk. He said nothing as they gave him a granola bar and a bottle of water. Nobody said anything, either. They wouldn't even look at him, not even Ruby. Joan could, though. Joan, in all her innocence had no problem with staring Thomas right in the eyes.

"Ruby?" Joan whispered in a thick accent. If she had her memories, Ruby was sure she'd know where it was from.

"Yeah, kid?"

"Is that the Thomas?"

"Yeah."

"He does not seem as bad as Teresa say. He looks nice."

"I don't know, kid, you never know whether he's faking or not."

They began to lay their pallets out, near Harriet and Sonya, and near Thomas, too. Just as Ruby as about to lay down, she heard Thomas ask, "You guys don't really wanna kill me, do you? Have you ever even killed anyone before?"

Ruby instantly thought of Beth, then grit her teeth.

"Based on what Teresa told us," Harriet began, "we escaped our Maze three days faster than your group did. Lost fewer people and killed more Grievers to do it. I think knocking off one insignificant teenage boy won't be too tough."

"Think of the guilt you'll feel," tried Thomas.

Harriet stuck out her tongue. "We'll get over it."

Ruby snorted. "It's not like we have a choice. WICKED said that was our only task. If we don't do it, no safe haven for us. We get to go crazy and die in the Scorch."

Shrugging, Thomas replied, "Hey, I understand. Sacrifice me to save yourselves. Very noble."

Teresa came over. "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing," Harriet said grumpily. "Tell him to shut up."

Teresa was all too happy to oblige. "Shut up."

"What're you gonna do, kill me if I don't?" Scoffed Thomas.

No one said anything for a few moments.

"Why do you hate me all of a sudden?" Thomas asked. "What did I do to you?"

Joan was nearly getting whiplash from turning her head back and forth between the former friends.

Teresa scowled for a moment before responding, "You know what you did. So does everyone here—I told them all about it. But even still, I wouldn't have sunk to your level and tried to kill you. We're only doing it because we have no choice. Sorry. Life's tough."

Looking utterly confused, Thomas shot back, "What are you talking about, _sink to my level?_ I'd never kill a friend to save my own butt. Never."

"Me neither. Which is why I'm glad we're not friends." Teresa began walking away."

"So what'd I do to you?" Demanded Thomas. "Sorry, I'm kind of havin' a memory lapse—ya know, we have those a lot around here. Remind me."

Teresa glared at him, a fire in her eyes that Ruby had never really seen in her before. "Don't insult me. Don't you dare sit there and act like nothing happened. Now shut up or I'll give you another bruise on that pretty face of yours."

As she left, Ruby sighed and adjusted herself on her pallet, trying to get comfortable. Joan laid down next to her, her bright blue eyes staring deeply into Ruby's brown ones.

"Do we have to kill him?" Joan asked with wide eyes.

Ruby sighed. "I'm sorry, kid, but we don't have a choice."

"But I like him!" Joan pouted. "I like him more than Teresa and WICKED."

Pursing her lips, Ruby replied, "I'm sorry, kiddo, really. If I could, I'd find a way so that we all live."

Joan said nothing as she turned on her side, her back facing away from Ruby as she tried to sleep.

Ruby eventually closed her eyes, too, and sleep embraced her.

* * *

She was in the Maze.

Gasping, Ruby looked down to find herself in her old navigator gear, and she backed up against a wall.

"No," she muttered, "no, no, no, no! I can't be back here, no way!"

As she slowed her breathing in an effort to calm down, Ruby heard footsteps. Reaching to her side, she was pleased to find her machete that she always took with her when it was her turn to go into the Maze and crept quietly towards the source of the noise. Turning a corner, she found that the noise belonged t—

 _"You?!"_

It was Pretty Boy, and he looked just as shocked as Ruby felt.

"What the shuck are you doing here?" He asked, eyeing her machete warily.

Ruby rolled her eyes. "I could ask you the same thing, stick! I'm dreaming—how on _earth_ are you here right now? And why _you?"_

"No, it's _my_ dream, slinthead, so what're _you_ doing here?"

Ruby opened her mouth to retort, when she heard the shrieking of a Griever. She shared a look with Pretty Boy.

"Run." They said at the same time, taking off in the opposite direction of the Griever.

As they ran, Ruby said, "Let's try to get to the Homestead—we might be safe there."

"The what now?"

"That farm place at the center?"

Pretty Boy nodded. "Oh, you meant the Glade!"

"Yeah, sure, whatever."

They continued on in silence.

When they finally arrived, the Homestead was empty—no people, no buildings, just trees, trees, and more trees.

Pretty Boy laid down in the grass, his arms sprawled out, breathing hard.

"How are you this out of breath, plewface?" Ruby asked. "This isn't even real. Can someone even be out of shape in a dream?"

He pointed a tired finger at her. "Okay, first off, shank, I'm _not_ out of shape. Second, what the _shuck_ is a plewface?"

Ruby shrugged. "Slang. Malala made it up when she came here."

Sighing, Pretty Boy looked up, shielding his eyes from the sun. "Man, you guys had to deal with this klunk too?"

"Yeah, friggin' sucked, didn't it?"

"Still does to be honest. I mean, you guys did pop outta nowhere, stuff my buddy in a sack, and kidnap 'im."

"Oi! We didn't have a choice. If we don't do it, we get to die in that claggy Scorch out there." She sat down. "Besides, it was that Teresa chick's idea. They kidnapped Aris and leave us with that stick, who won't stop yappin' about that Thomas guy, and how she wants to kill him so bad. We all just think she's nuts."

"Shuck," Pretty Boy said, before continuing. "Hey, so, uh, what's your name?"

"Why do you wanna know my name? I thought you were mad at the whole 'kidnapping your friend' thing."

He shrugged. "We'll catch up at some point. Besides, I mostly blame Teresa. Never trusted her all that much anyways."

When Ruby just eyed him skeptically, he sighed in frustration.

"Okay, fine," he said. "I'll go first. I'm Minho."

He stuck out his hand.

"I'm Ru—"

Blackness.

* * *

"Ruby," hissed a familiar voice. "C'mon, ya stick, wake up already!" It was Harriet.

"Wha's happenin'?" Ruby slurred, rubbing the sleep from her eyes to see Sonya standing over her as well.

"Help us gather everyone up," Harriet commanded in her 'Leader' voice, and Ruby immediately snapped to attention. "Teresa's gone for now, so we're gonna hear what this stick has to say for himself."

* * *

Meanwhile, Minho sat bolt upright, running his hands through his hair. That had been the weirdest dream he'd ever had in his life. He had seen that girl from Group B, the one who he kept locking eyes with before they took Thomas. He had been close to finding out her name, too, before he woke up.

'Ru,' she had managed to say before she was interrupted.

They hadn't talked for long, but their conversation had made him wonder, what if there was a way to save Thomas? Could they convince the girls to not kill him? Minho wasn't really sure anymore. Besides, was he really gonna take advice from a girl in his dreams? That was just stupid.

Shaking his head, Minho just rolled onto his side, trying to sleep once more.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Thank you all so much to everyone who has read my story so far! My updating schedule will definitely be very spontaneous due to high school and other extra-curricular activities, but I promise that I will _try_ to update as often as I can! Also, since I'm taking midterms this week, I get to leave school early, which means more writing time for me (yay!). Then, I go straight into winter break, which means even _more_ writing time, so expect many updates!**

 **If you hadn't noticed, I took the liberty to make up some more slang for Group B! The words plew and claggy are actually real (look them up!) just like the words used by the Gladers.**

 **Finally, shout out to Neonsweet! Thank you for your awesome review, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**


	4. Talking It Over

**I do not own The Maze Runner trilogy.**

 _"Ooh woo, I'm a rebel just for kicks, now_

 _Let me kick it like it's 1986,_ _now_

 _Might be over now, but I feel it still."_

— _Feel It Still by Portugal. The Man_

* * *

They crowded around Thomas, waiting for him to wake up. Teresa was gone, and they needed to move quick. Ruby knew that they might have to wake him up if he doesn't awake soon.

When he did wake up, Ruby, along with Harriet and Sonya, leaned forward in anticipation.

"Good evening," Thomas said sarcastically. "Can I help you ladies?"

"Cram it, ya stick," Ruby snapped.

Harriet glared at her before turning back to Thomas. "We want to know what you know," she told him softly.

Thomas snorted. "Why should I help you?" He retorted, but Ruby could see the faint hope in his eyes.

"Well," she said, "I don't think ya got much a choice, but if you share what you've got in that head of yours, there's a chance that _we_ can help _you_."

"Where is—"

"She said she wanted to scout the area to see if your friends followed us," Sonya interrupted. "Been gone for about an hour."

Thomas said nothing for a while.

"Forget how to talk?" Sonya scoffed.

"No, " Thomas replied hastily. "Um... does this mean you guys are having second thoughts about killing me?"

Ruby tilted her head from side to side, as if to say, 'Maybe.'

Smirking, Harriet said, "Don't go jumping to conclusions. And don't think we've gone all righteous. Let's just say we have our doubts and want to talk—but your odds are slim."

"The smartest thing to do right now seems to be to do what we're told," Sonya said, continuing Harriet's train of thought. "There are a lot more of us than there are of you. I mean, come on. If it was _your_ decision, what would you do?"

Even though Ruby could tell that Thomas saw their point, he was still quick to reply, "Pretty sure I'd choose the option of not killing myself."

Snorting, Ruby snapped, "Yeah, that's what we're doing, plewface."

Sonya nodded. "Don't be a jerk. This isn't funny. If you could choose, and the two options were you die or all of us die, which one would you pick? This is all about you or us."

Silence.

"You gonna answer?" Sonya pushed.

"I'm thinking," replied Thomas. "Okay, I'm being honest here. I promise. If I were in your shoes, I'd choose not to kill me."

"Easy for you to say," Harriet scoffed. "It's your life on the line."

Thomas was quick to refute her. "It's not just that. I think it's some kind of test, and maybe you're not really supposed to do it. Maybe we should share what we know, figure something out."

Harriet, Sonya, and Ruby all shared a long, contemplative look.

Finally, Ruby shrugged. "Why the hell not?"

Sonya nodded in agreement, then Harriet said, "We've had our doubts about this whole thing from the beginning. Something about it isn't right, so, yeah, you better talk. But let us get everybody over here first." The three girls stood to rouse the rest of their group.

"Hurry, then, " Thomas urged. "We better do this before Teresa gets back."

* * *

"Newt! Psst! Hey, Newt! Wake up!" Minho shook his friend urgently.

"What?" He snapped groggily as he sat up. "What is it, you shank?"

Minho explained what happened in the dream between him and the girl from Group B: their run through the maze and their conversation about Teresa and Thomas.

Newt just raised an eyebrow. "You woke me up to complain about a bloody _dream_?"

"I dunno, man," Minho said, rubbing his hands through his hair. "What if WICKED's messing with my head like they did with Thomas and Teresa?"

Sighing, Newt looked at his friend. "Maybe they are messing with your head, Minho, I've got no bloody idea. But I do know one thing—if they are connecting you to this girl, maybe we've got a chance to save Tommy."

* * *

Gathering all of Group B was not hard. In fact, a large portion of them were already awake, including Joan.

"Are we not going to kill Thomas now?" Joan asked, a hopeful gleam in her eyes.

"We'll see, kiddo," Ruby replied as she shook Malala awake. "We're gonna see what he's got to say, first. Hurry, we don't know when Teresa's gonna be back."

All of the girls crowded around Thomas, and Ruby had to hold Joan back from completely smothering Thomas with questions. That didn't stop her from asking, though.

"What was it like in your maze?" She asked. "Did you get to run through the maze? What about Teresa? Was she more nice when she was with your group?"

Thomas just sat there, looking bemused.

"Joan," Harriet said authoritatively, "Please be quiet." She turned to Thomas. "All right. You talk first, then we will."

Nodding, Thomas cleared his throat. "All I know about your group is what I learned from Aris," He told them. "And it seems like we all went through pretty much the same thing inside the Maze. But since we escaped, lots of things have been different, and I'm not sure what you know about WICKED."

"Not much," Sonya admitted.

Ruby cut in. "Well, I had been stung by a Griever back in our Maze, so I remember a few bits and pieces. But Sonya's right—nothing much."

Thomas continued, "Well, I've learned a lot about them. All of us are special in some way—we're being tested or something because they have plans for us." he paused. "A lot of the things they're doing to us don't make sense because they're part of the trials—what WICKED calls the Variables. Seeing how we react how we react in certain situations. I don't understand all of it, not even close, but I think this whole thing about killing me is just another layer, or another lie. So... I think this just another Variable to see what we'll all do."

Harriet was skeptical. "In other words, you want us to risk our lives because of this brilliant deduction."

"Don't you see?" Thomas pleaded. "Killing me has no point. Maybe it's a test for you—I don't know. But I do know I can help you if I'm alive, not if I'm dead."

"Or," countered Harriet, "we're being tested to see if we have the guts to kill our competitors' leader? Weed out the weak and leave the strong?"

Apparently, that was a ludicrous idea to Thomas. "I haven't even _been_ the leader—Minho has."

Ruby thought about the tall, dark haired boy that she ran alongside in the Maze in her dreams.

"No way," Thomas continued, "think about this. How are you showing any strength by killing me? I'm way outnumbered, and you have all these weapons. How does that prove who's stronger?"

"Then what _does_ it have to do with?" Malala questioned from the back.

"I think it's a test to see if you'll think for yourself, change plans, make rational decisions," Thomas said carefully. "And the more of us there are, the better odds we have of making it to the safe haven. Killing me makes no sense, does no one any good. You've proven any power you needed to by capturing me. Show them you won't blindly take it all away."

Ruby could see he had a point, but Sonya didn't. "Sounds a lot like something a person who's desperate not to die would say," she replied.

"I really feel like it's the truth." Thomas shrugged. "I think that if you kill me, you'll have failed the real test WICKED is throwing at you."

"Yeah, I _bet_ you think that," Harriet snapped, standing up.

"Listen," Ruby continued for her, "to be honest, we've been having some doubts about this, thinking the same kinda crap you've been spewing. But Teresa's gonna be back any minute now. We'll talk it over with her then."

Thomas was quick to reply, a frantic look in his eyes. "No! I mean, she's the only one who seems the most gung-ho about killing me. I think you guys should make the decision."

Harriet smiled halfheartedly. "Calm down. If we decide not to kill you, there's nothing she can freaking do about it. But if we..." Harriet shook her head. "We'll figure it out."

Thomas's shoulders slumped slightly in relief.

As it grew darker, they began to back their things into the knapsacks they kept hidden in an old log nearby. Bits and pieces of hushed conversation floated around all the girls, wondering if Thomas was right, if they _shouldn't_ kill him.

When Teresa finally came back, she immediately noticed the uneasy tension that had settled over the group.

"What?" She demanded, a hard look on her face.

Harriet was the only one who answered her. "We need to talk."

When they were sure that Thomas couldn't hear them, they started their meeting.

"Okay, talk," Teresa said, clenching and unclenching her hands.

Harriet, Sonya, and Ruby all shared a look, silently wondering who was going to speak first.

Eventually, Ruby spoke up. "We can't kill him, Teresa."

Teresa's eyes darkened dangerously. "What are you talking about?" Her voice was low and hollow, but it held a nervous undertone.

Harriet snorted. "I think that you heard her, stick. We're not killing him."

"Do you have any idea of what you're doing?" Teresa asked, raising her spear slightly.

Ruby laughed mirthlessly. "I don't know what you plan on doing with that, girly, but let me remind you that there's over twenty of us, and we've all got pretty toys, too."

Clenching her jaw, Teresa lowered her spear. "Fine," she muttered. "There's something I need to tell you guys." She paused for a moment. "WICKED doesn't actually want us to kill Thomas. I'm supposed to take him to this place—I'm not exactly sure what for. All I know is that he has to genuinely feel betrayed, and that if we don't go through with this, they'll _actually_ kill him."

"You're gonna take him to an undisclosed location, _by yourself_ , and we're supposed to believe that you're not gonna kill him?" Harriet asked, crossing her arms.

"She's not going by herself," spoke a voice from the shadows. It was Aris.

Joan was the first to react. She ran to Aris, leaped up, and hugged him as tight as she could.

As he set her down, he continued, "I'm supposed to go with Teresa and help her. I promise that if she suddenly has a change of heart and decides to actually kill him, I'll stop her."

Sonya interjected. "All right, that works for me. We'll go back out there and say that we talked Teresa out of killing Thomas. Aris, you hide until it's time. If Thomas sees you here, he'll know something's up."

Everyone nodded and went back to the camp. Ruby and Harriet went over to Thomas. Harriet knelt by the ropes and began to untie them.

"Well?" Thomas asked. "Did you guys decide anything."

"We're not gonna kill your stick butt, if that's what you're wondering," Ruby told him.

Thomas just nodded.

Harriet stood and helped him but. "But I'll tell you what. Teresa does not like you. I'd watch my back around her if I were you."

Soon, they were all eating, and Thomas was with them this time. After they ate, they were moving through the mountains, making their way toward the safe haven. Thomas walked in the back of the group, and soon Ruby found herself walking next to him.

"Sorry we dragged you around in a sack," she told him, a small smirk on her face.

"Oh, no problem," Thomas replied sarcastically. "It felt good to take a load off for a while."

Ruby laughed. "Yeah, well, the plewface from WICKED had very specific instructions on what we were supposed to do with you. Teresa was the one who got all excited about killing you—like you did something real awful to her. She made it seem like the whole thing was her idea."

Thomas ignored the last part. "Did the guy have a white suit and kind of look like a rat turned human?"

Snickering, Ruby said, "Yeah, that's one good comparison. Same guy who talked to your group?"

He nodded. "What were the... specific instructions he gave you."

"Well the first thing we were supposed to do was that weird thing with you and Teresa in that building in the city. Remember?"

Thomas seemed uneasy. "Uh, yeah, I remember."

"Well," Ruby said, "if you hadn't noticed by now, it was an act. Sorry, man. It was supposed to give you a false sense of security. She said they even controlled her long enough to make her kiss you, or some crap like that. That true?"

At this, Thomas stopped walking and put his hands on his knees.

"I'm sorry, man," Ruby whispered softly. "I really am. You two seemed close."

Thomas stood up and took a deep, long breath. "I... just... I had hoped it was the other way around. That they were forcing her to try and hurt us, that she broke away long enough to... to kiss me."

Ruby reached up and put a comforting arm on his shoulder. "When Teresa replaced Aris, she'd made you out to be an absolute monster, that you did something real bad to her, but she'd never say what. Anyway, you don't really seem like the guy she made you out to be. That's the main thing that changed our minds. Plus, Joan, that little kid, has taken a liking to you real fast."

Thomas stopped for a moment before walking again, faster this time. "Okay," he said shakily. "Tell me the rest. I need to hear it. All of it?"

Ruby walked faster to catch up with the tall boy's stride. "Everything else about the instructions for killing you had to do with snatching you from your buddies in the desert like we did. They told us to keep ya in the bag until your group was outta sight. Then, the big day was gonna be the day after tomorrow. Supposedly, there's this fancy old place built into the mountain on the northern side. That's where we were supposed to kill ya."

Thomas stopped walking. "A _place_? What does that mean?"

Shrugging, Ruby replied, "Dunno. The Rat Guy told us we'd know what to do when we got there. I bet that's where Teresa went earlier."

"Why? How close are we to the other side."

"No idea, actually."

They fell into a somewhat comfortable silence and kept walking.

* * *

They had been walking for a full day when they finally reached the end of the Pass. Ruby and Thomas, who had stayed at the back of the group for most of the time, both broke into a run to get to the front of the group. The view was beautiful, and empty. Very empty. With no sign of the safe haven anywhere.

"Maybe we just can't see it," suggested Thomas.

Harriet nodded. "It might just be another entrance to one of their underground tunnels. I'm sure it's there."

Sonya agreed. "Well, not much of a choice but to keep heading north. We should've known better than to expect something easy. Maybe we can make it to the bottom of the mountain by sunrise. Sleep on flat ground."

Thomas turned to Ruby. "Where's Teresa?"

Ruby shrugged carelessly. "Don't no, don't care. If she's a big enough girl to go running around when she don't get her way, she's big enough to find us when she calms down. C'mon."

They started walking again, going down the path, the loose gravel and soil crunching underneath their feet. The group continued to make their way down the mountain in silence, and Ruby was next to Harriet and Sonya in the front this time. She wanted to keep Thomas company—she felt bad for the guy—but she knew it was almost time for Teresa to take him. Ruby just hoped that Teresa wouldn't change her mind and decide to actually kill Thomas.

* * *

When they finally reached the bottom of the mountain, they settled down to sleep. Thomas was gone, and no one said anything about it. They all just hoped Teresa and Aris were telling the truth.

Ruby shut her eyes and opened them in the center of the Maze, in the Spring.

"Pleasure seein' you here," a voice said behind her. It was Minho.

She snorted. "I just wanna know why this keeps happening.

Minho shrugged. "My friend and I think it might be WICKED, messing with our shuck heads."

"Like they did with Rachel and Aris?" Ruby asked. "Makes sense."

"Now what?" Minho plopped down on the grass, squinting in the sun.

Ruby sat, too. "Dunno," she said. "Should we just wait until we wake up?"

Minho groaned. "That's boring!" He looked at her. "You're shucking boring, Ru. I can't believe that, of all people, WICKED paired my head with such a boring little shank."

Snorting, Ruby retorted, "Yeah, I can't believe they paired _me_ with a claggy annoying stick."

Minho reached out and shoved her, and Ruby laughed a little before sobering up.

"I dunno if I'm allowed to tell you this," she said, "but we're not killing Thomas."

Minho sat up, his face very serious. "Tell me that again, and if you're lying, I'll—"

"We're not killing him, I swear on my life," Ruby told him, holding her hands out in front of her. "We all talked to it and decided Teresa and the dude in the white suit were full of crap. When we told Miss High-and-Mighty, it turned out that we were never gonna kill him in the first place."

"What the shuck do you mean?"

"According to Teresa, the whole plan was to make Thomas think we were gonna kill him, to make him feel betrayed. They've gotta take 'em to some special place where it'll look like he's gonna die, but he isn't."

"They?"

"Teresa and Aris."

Minho looked at her like she grew two heads. "Aris? That shank's with us!"

"Is he?" Ruby asked. "When was the last time you saw him?"

Minho thought for a moment, and his eyes widened in realization and he pounded the ground with his fist. "That _shank_!" he yelled. He continued to hit the ground, letting out all of his pent up anger.

Ruby said nothing as she waited for him to calm down.

"You good?" she asked after a while.

Minho nodded, panting a little. "I needed that."

"We're a few miles from the safe haven," Ruby told him. "How far out are you guys?"

"Same as you," Minho replied. "Just a few miles out."

"I wonder what's there," she said.

"I guess we'll find out," he replied.

They shared a look, as if they both knew something bad was going to happen.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Wow, this is a pretty long chapter—over 3,000 words! Thanks to everyone who has read this story, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Let me know if any of the characters seem OOC because that's something I'm still trying to work on that. Anyway, if you like this story, please review, favorite, and/or follow! Any of those will be greatly appreciated! I promise the action will kick in soon; I'm sorry if things have been a little boring.**


	5. Arriving at the Safe Haven

**I do not own the Maze Runner Trilogy.**

 _"_ _We are the kids that you never can kill_

 _You never can kill, you never can kill_

 _You say that we won't, but you know that we will_

 _You know that we will keep on._ _"_

— _We Are the Kids by WALK THE MOON_

* * *

Ruby wasn't sure how long they had walked for. Six hours? Ten? She had no idea anymore. Her watch still rested snugly on her wrist, but she refused to look at it, scared of what she might see.

Joan had grown too tired to walk, so Ruby allowed her to ride on her back as they made their way to the safe haven. Every now and then, the small girl would let out a tired sigh.

"Hey!" Sonya called. "Look over there!" She reached out her hand to point.

Following Sonya's arm, Ruby squinted to see a small cluster of people. It must have been Group A! Ruby adjusted her grip on Joan's legs. "Hold on, kiddo," she murmured as she broke into a run alongside the rest of her group.

It didn't take long before they had reached the group, but Ruby kept moving. She had to find him, she had to know if he had seen her, too. If—

She collided with a person and stumbled backwards, almost dropping Joan. An hand gripped her shoulder, keeping her steady, and Ruby looked at who the person was.

Minho.

His eyes widened frantically when he looked at her. "You—"

"Did you—" Ruby began at the same time.

They stopped and looked at each other sheepishly, waiting for the other to continue.

"Ru?" Minho finally asked, furrowing his eyebrows in nervous hope.

"Yeah," She responded with a half-smile. "Minho?"

"Yeah." He relaxed a little, his mouth quirking into a smirk. "So, you're telling me Teresa's not out to kill Thomas?"

Ruby shrugged. "Honestly, that chick seems nine kinds of crazy. I don't know what her deal is anymore, but I do trust Aris. And he said that Thomas wasn't gonna die."

Minho sighed and rubbed his hand over his face. "I guess that's as good as I'm gonna get, huh?"

"Probably," she responded, trying her best to sound sympathetic. "He'll be okay, man."

He clenched his jaw. "You'd better be right, shank."

Harriet and Sonya soon joined the small group, both eyeing Minho cautiously.

"What's going on here?" Harriet asked, authority strong in her voice.

"Just havin' a little chit-chat," Ruby responded, shrugging as she shifted Joan to keep her from slipping. "Not like he's gonna try to kill me, Harriet."

"And you know this how?" Harriet demanded sternly.

Minho snorted. "If I was gonna kill her, I'd have done it already. Besides, you crazy shanks outnumber us. I'm not _that_ stupid."

Joan chose that moment to wake up. "Why are we out in the middle of nowhere?" She asked sluggishly as she lifted her head from Ruby's shoulder.

Ruby pulled her eyebrows closer together. "Actually, yeah, that's a good question. What's going on?"

"You haven't seen it yet?" Minho asked her, shooting her a questioning look.

Shrugging, she told him, "Nah. Care to enlighten me?"

He nodded and motioned to follow him. They walked through the crowd of people, most of whom moved out of the way as Minho walked through. He stopped eventually, looking at something in the ground. When Ruby caught up with him, her jaw dropped. She was looking at a stick shoved into the ground, with a little orange flag that waved in the strong wind. On it were thick black letters that read:

 **THE SAFE HAVEN**

Ruby's eyes widened, and she felt her jaw drop. _This_ was their safe haven? "It's just a stick!" She murmured incredulously.

Minho shrugged and lazily put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, it's better than nothing, right?"

"It's still a stick."

He just shrugged again. "Dunno. I don't think WICKED would go through all that effort just to let us die out here."

Joan nodded, her blonde hair accidentally whipping Ruby in the face. "I agree with him. That would be pointless."

Raising his eyebrows meaningfully, Minho said, "See? Listen to the kid, Ru. She knows what she's talking about." He paused for a moment as he looked over Ruby's shoulder, his eyes widening. "I'll be right back," he told her, giving her shoulder a pat. "Stay here."

Ruby nodded as he walked off, and she squatted, allowing Joan to slide off of her back. Brushing off imaginary dirt, she straightened up before she glanced over at Joan.

"Stay with me, kid," she told her sternly. "I don't want you out of my sight. Got it?"

Joan nodded firmly. _"Oui,"_ she replied, a determined look on her small face. The two stood side by side for a few moments, looking at the stick as if it would suddenly change into a solution for all of their problems.

Suddenly, Ruby heard Minho's voice call out, "You guys make a path!"

Turning towards his voice, she could see Minho walking through a clearing in between all the teenagers, Thomas and Teresa following closely behind. He led them to the stick, stopping next to Ruby. Thomas and Teresa shared a look before Thomas went to get a closer look. He numbly fell to his knees, seeming to feel the same shock and disbelief that Ruby had.

He turned to face Minho, who was still standing next to Ruby. "We have over an hour left," he said, glancing at his watch. "Our safe haven is a stick in the ground?"

Minho shrugged. "Wasn't so bad, when you think about it. More than half of us made it here. Looks like even more of the girlie group."

Ruby groaned a little, rubbing her face with her hands in exasperation.

"The Flare turn you crazy already?" Thomas demanded angrily as he stood up. "Yeah, we got here. Safe and sound. To a _stick._ "

"Dude," scoffed Minho, "they wouldn't send us here for no reason. We made it in the time they gave us. Now we just have to wait until the clock ticks down and something'll happen."

"I agree," Joan said in her thick accent. "It would not make sense for them to waste so much time, and then let us die."

Teresa, Thomas, and Minho all looked at the small girl, none of them expecting her to say anything.

"That's what worries me," Thomas murmured.

"I hate to say it, but I agree with Thomas," Teresa said, tearing her gaze away from Joan. "After everything they've done to us, it'd be way too easy to have a little sign here, and then they come get us in a nice helicopter as a reward. Something bad's gonna happen."

"Whatever you say, traitor," spat Minho, not trying to hide any of the malice he felt for Teresa. "I don't want to hear another word from you." Grabbing Ruby's arm, he stalked off, Joan following close behind them.

As they walked, a girl with long, dark hair approached them, a worried look on her face. "Where's Thomas?" She asked.

Too angry to speak, Minho just jerked his head in the direction they just came from.

"He's over by the stick with Teresa," Ruby supplied.

The girl raised an eyebrow. "That chick who wanted to kill him so bad?"

"Yeah," Ruby snorted. "Dunno what her deal is, but I think she might be catchin' the Flare already or something."

The girl snickered. "I like you," she declared, sticking out her hand. "Brenda."

"Ruby," she replied, taking the older girl's hand with her free arm.

Brenda nodded, walking off in the initial direction Minho had pointed her in.

Minho sighed, moving his hand down her arm to her hand, grasping it tightly. "C'mon," he said, pulling her to the left. "There's a couple of people I want you to meet."

The people were two members of Group A, Newt and Frypan. The two were nice to Ruby and Joan; neither of them blamed the two girls for what happened to Thomas. Feeling exhausted, the small group sat on the ground, no one saying a word, just enjoying the temporary peace and quiet.

When Thomas found them, the oncoming storm had grown closer. The wind had picked up, carrying some rain with it, and the dark gray clouds nearly covered the whole sky, barely leaving any light.

"Hey, Tommy," Newt said casually as Thomas joined them on the ground.

Nodding, Thomas replied, "Glad to see you guys made it here."

Frypan snorted. "Same back at ya," he said. "Looks like you had more fun, though. Hangin' with your love goddess. Guess you two kissed and made up?"

Ruby felt something squeeze her hand tightly and looked down to see that Minho was still holding onto her hand.

"Sorry," he muttered, loosening his grip, but still not letting go.

"Not exactly," Thomas said, not noticing the interaction between the two. "It wasn't fun."

"Well, what happened?" Minho asked. "I mean, Ruby told us what she knew, but how can you trust her after all that?"

Even though he hesitated, Thomas eventually relented and recounted the story of his time with Group B: WICKED's plan for him to be killed, the camp, his talk with Harriet, Sonya, and Ruby, and the gas chamber that Teresa and Aris brought him to.

"And you forgave that little witch?" Minho demanded when Thomas was done talking. He squeezed Ruby's hand in anger and frustration again. "I won't. Whatever those shuck WICKED people wanna do, fine by me. Whatever you wanna do, fine by me. But I don't trust her, I don't trust Aris, and I don't like either one of them."

Newt was definitely the calmer one of the bunch, and Ruby could tell he was like Group A's guy version of Sonya. "They went through all that—all that planning and acting—just to make you feel betrayed? Doesn't make any bloody sense." He turned to the two girls. "Ruby, Joan. You two were with Teresa for the most part. What was she like then?"

Joan spoke up first. "She was very mean and angry most of the time. She got on with the scary white man very well, and was happy that our task was to kill you, Thomas.

"She was super bitter," Ruby recalled. "She kept talking like Thomas had killed her parents in front of her, or something. In fact, she tried her best to make your whole group seem like real awful people. Dunno how she managed to be that good of an actor. The whole thing was just pretty confusing, to be honest."

"Tell me about it," Thomas muttered spitefully. "And no, I haven't forgiven her, but for now I think we're in the same boat." He looked around at all of the teenagers that were there before he turned back to his friends. "What about you guys? How'd you make it here?"

Minho was the one who answered. "Found a gap through the mountains," he told him. "Had to fight through some Cranks camping in a cave, but other than that, no problems. Food and water's almost out, though. And my feet hurt. And I'm pretty sure another big bolt of shuck lightning's about to come down and make me look like a piece of Frypan's bacon."

Ruby rolled her eyes. "We get it, ya stick. You're a whiny baby."

Minho dropped her hand and shoved her in mock anger.

"Maybe we should bag this whole safe haven thing and try to find shelter," Thomas voiced, eyeing the cloudy sky wearily.

Newt was quick to shoot that idea down. "No way," he said. "We didn't come this far to go back now. Let's just hope the buggin' storm holds off a little longer." He looked up at the sky, too, grimacing.

The group sat in silence, with Ruby and Minho leaning on each other, and Joan resting her head on Ruby's shoulder.

Suddenly, Minho jumped to his feet, and Ruby almost fell over. "What's that?!" he exclaimed, pointing at something just behind Thomas. Ruby stood up quickly, noting the terror on Minho's face.

A little ways away, Ruby could make out a large section of the desert that was opening up. A perfect square, only a few meters wide, rose diagonally, revealing what lay under the ground. There was a patch of blackness, and something sat on top of it. The something was oblong with rounded edges and was perfectly white, which contrasted greatly with the dark environment they were in. Ruby immediately recognized it—she had seen it when her group had finally made it out of the Maze. Where the Grievers must have slept.

Did Grievers even sleep? Or was that just where they would stay, lying in wait for when they would finally be aloud out into the Maze once more? Ruby shook her head, trying not to dwell on it.

She felt Minho grab her hand once more, but before she could react, more sections of the desert ground opened up, revealing pods numerous pods identical to the first one. They circled the group, leaving no way out.

There was no escape.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Hi! I just wanted to thank everyone who has favorited, followed, and reviewed this story! Your support means so, so much to me, and I apologize for taking so long to update! High school is really taking a toll on me at the moment. I know that's not that much of an excuse, but I really am sorry. Thank you all again for your support to this story!**

 **Another note: I now have a Polyvore account in which I have created collections to help visualize my OC's. You should go check it out! The username is the same as it is here** **—candyappleredd.**

 **Thank you all again!**

 **Love, Nell**


	6. Time to Fight

**I do not own The Maze Runner Trilogy.**

 _"_ _And they're turning us into monsters_

 _Turning us into fire_

 _Turning us into monsters_

 _It's all desire, it's all desire, it's all desire."_

— _Kids with Guns by Gorillaz_

* * *

No one said anything as the deafening sound of screeching metal echoed throughout the otherwise empty landscape. Ruby covered her ears and noticed that everyone else was doing the same. Everyone was watching as parts of the sandy ground flipped downwards, each patch eventually replaced with a large black square and one of those bulbous white coffins sat on top of them. Ruby didn't count them all, but she knew there were at least thirty.

No one spoke as the ground finally stopped moving. The only sound left was the wind whipping around them violently, flinging sand into their eyes.

Ruby absently felt someone grab her hand. _Probably Joan,_ she dismissed. It took her a second to realize that the hand that was gripping hers was far too large and rough to be Joan's. Looking over, she saw that it was Minho who had grabbed her hand. Not that she minded, really.

"Hey," Thomas said, and it was then that Ruby noticed that Teresa had made her way over to them.

"So what do we do?" Asked Minho, who was eyeing Teresa bitterly. Ruby didn't blame him, either.

"If those things have bloody Grievers in 'em," Newt spoke, "we best start gettin' ready to fight the shuck buggers."

"What're you guys talking about?" Harriet asked. She had come over with Sonya, Brenda, and a Hispanic man Ruby didn't recognize.

"Oh great," Minho complained under his breath. "The two glorious queens of Group B."

Ruby shoved him, but he ignored her.

"I'm assuming you all saw those pods back in your WICKED chamber, too," continued Harriet. "They had to be where the Grievers charged up or whatever it was they did."

"Yeah," Newt agreed. "Gotta be that."

Lightening flashed brightly above them, and thunder crashed in the nearby distance.

"We've only got twenty-five minutes," Thomas informed them, looking down at his watch. "We're either gonna be fighting Grievers, or we need to get inside those big coffins at the right time. Maybe they're the—"

He was cut off by a loud hiss that seemed to come from every direction. The noise was piercing, and Ruby found herself covering her ears once more. She jerked her head to the white pods, where she could see a line of blue light that expanded as the coffin-like pods began to open. If they made any noise, it was swallowed up by the roaring winds and crashing thunder.

The group of teens shuffled closer together, trying to get away from the pods as they all swung open. They watched anxiously, but nothing happened.

"Ru!" Minho called, squeezing her hand. When she looked at him, he leaned down to her ear so she could here him better. "Stay here, okay?" Not waiting for a reply, he turned to the others. "Thomas! You, me and Newt! Let's go check it out!" He called.

Before they could move, something came out of one of the pods, and Ruby noticed that there was... _something_ in every pod, slowly coming out of their homes. She scanned a pod that was close to her, studying the thing coming out of it.

Its arm came out first, a gross, misshapen, poor excuse of a limb. It was a sickly beige color, and none of its four stumpy fingers were the same length. The arm was horribly wrinkled and lumpy, and it had an odd lightbulb-looking thing stuck in its elbow, perfectly round and glowing an artificial orange. Its leg came out next. The appendage was just as ugly and misshapen as the arm, with four stumpy toes that took after its fingers. The knee had the same orange lightbulb.

"What is that thing?" Minho asked, tugging Ruby closer to him.

No one had an answer.

The creature finally managed to pull itself out. It was a grotesque, humanoid thing, tall, naked, and horribly deformed. Ruby felt bile rise in her throat as she looked at it. There were the same lightbulb things all over it, around two dozen of them in all. As it landed, one of the bulbs on its knee burst in a spray of reddish sparks. It didn't have any eyes, ears, nose, or a mouth.

Ruby looked around, and similar creatures had all come out of the pods. They all stood clumsily, surrounding the group. Then, suddenly, they all raised a deformed arm to the sky, and thin blades popped out of their stumpy fingers. The creatures all let out a moan, a deep, haunting sound that seemed to resonate in Ruby's core.

Dropping her hand, Minho turned to the shell-shocked group. "There's about one for each of us!" He called. "Grab whatever you got for a weapon!"

Reaching into her pack, Ruby pulled out two machetes. Holding one in her mouth, she reached back in and pulled out a third. "Here," she said, offering it to Minho.

He nodded sharply. "Thanks."

They looked back at the things, which were slowly making their way toward them. It was slow at first, but they were steadily gaining speed.

Ruby looked down at Joan, who was holding a long knife she had retrieved from her own pack. The young girl was staring down one of WICKED's creatures as if she was saying that she had claimed that one. Ruby did the same, eyeing the one right in front of her.

The things were about eight yards away now. They needed to start moving soon, or else things were going to get ugly.

Minho seemed to have a similar idea. "Now!" He shouted. "Charge them!"

Without hesitation, Ruby ran forward to the thing. It had stopped by that point, standing in a defensive position. Slowly, it raised its hand, pointing its bladed fingers at her. She ran up to it, ducking to avoid its arm, and swung one of her machetes at its other arm. The blade went an inch or so into its skin before it clanked on something metallic. Quickly, she yanked her machete out of it, leaping to the side to avoid the blades as they swung toward her.

She raised her other arm, swung down, and made contact with the bulb on its right knee. The monster seemed to slow down, like she had mortally wounded, and Ruby finally understood. If she went after the bulbs, then she would kill it. Looking over, Ruby was relieved to see that Joan had gotten the same idea; she kept a good distance between her and the monster she was fighting, occasionally darting in and destroying another bulb.

 _Pop, pop, pop._

She stabbed as many bulbs as she could, and jumped back to catch her breath for a moment. When she started to move back, she staggered when she heard a crack and saw a blinding flash in her peripheral vision.

Lightning. The storm was there.

As more and more lightning came crashing down, Ruby heard a sickening slicing noise and felt white-hot pain in her left arm. She tried to scream, but the noise kept getting caught in her throat. Stepping back, Ruby used her good arm to stab one more bulb, and the creature finally fell over, presumably dead. She looked down at her arm and nearly threw up. The thing sliced her good, just below the shoulder and—was that _bone?_

She shook her head, not really sure she wanted to know the answer to that question. Ignoring everyone around her, Ruby dug into her bag and pulled out an extra shirt. Gritting her teeth, she held back a scream of pain as she struggled to tie the shirt around her arm.

"Ruby, what the shuck?" Minho was jogging over to her, looking at her arm with wide eyes. Blood was slowly seeping through her make-shift bandage, and she grimaced.

"Hey," she breathed out, nodding her head slightly. "You good?"

He gently grabbed her injured arm. "I should be asking you that, you shank!"

Ruby shook her head. "We don't have time to worry about that!" When Minho started to protest, she pointed behind him at the pods. "Look!" Thomas and Teresa were climbing into a pod, trying to escape the storm.

Joan ran up to them. "We've got to hurry," she panted.

Newt and Frypan weren't that far behind her. "I think we could fit into one of 'em," Newt said, looking their small group over. "But we need to bloody hurry."

Together, they all ran to the nearest pod and clambered in. They shut the top, leaving them in complete darkness. Minho lifted his arm next to Ruby, turning on the light on his digital watch.

"We've got six minutes," he muttered. "Ruby, how's your arm?"

"What happened?" Joan asked on Ruby's other side.

"I'm—" she winced as a wave of pain crashed over her, "—I'm fine. I bet they can fix it when the times up." She winced again, grinding her teeth together.

In the distance, they could here lightning striking all around them, some bolts sounding dangerously close to their pod. They sat in silence, listening to the storm.

"How much time now?" Joan asked quietly, breaking the silence.

"Two minutes," Minho muttered, his anxious face illuminated by the dim light of his watch.

Newt looked up. "Do you think this thing'll hold up for much longer?"

"I dunno," Frypan replied, "but as long as _we_ can hold up, we'll be alright."

A different noise came from outside, and everyone looked up. It was gradual at first, but then it got louder, and louder, and louder, until it was all Ruby could hear. Their pod vibrated from whatever it was.

"Should we see what that is?" Newt asked.

"Yeah," Ruby replied. "We must've missed something. I'll check." As she began to stand up, Minho grabbed her arm.

"Whoa there," he said. "What if a shuckin' bolt of lightning comes down and fries your shank butt?"

Ruby looked down, considering his words for a moment. "I'll cross that bridge when I get to it," she muttered. She placed her good arm firmly on the roof of the pod. Another thump told her someone else was helping her. Frypan.

"On three," she said. "One, two, _three_!" They both shoved on the roof, and it popped open. They hoisted their torsos over the edge, looking for the source of the noise. It didn't take long to find it.

"Guys!" Frypan called out, glancing down at their friends still in the pod. "You need to see this!"

It was a Berg. It was beginning to land on the ground, its bay doors opening as it went.

"C'mon!" Ruby yelled. "We've gotta hurry!" Using her good arm, she grabbed Joan, pulling her up. Minho and Newt followed suit.

They all climbed out, running to the Berg, where the shadowy figures of soldiers with guns stood. The rain-soaked ground was not good to run on; Ruby slipped many times and would have fallen had Minho not grabbed her arm, pulling her along. As they ran, a dozen or so of the bulb-monsters, their blades stained with a mixture of dirt.

"Go right through 'em!" Thomas shouted as he ran next to Minho.

The creatures screamed in response.

Minho and Ruby ran, and when she reached the line of monsters, she pulled out a machete with her good hand, stabbing bulbs like her life depended on it. And, she realized absently, it did.

The monster she was fighting went down surprisingly easily, and Ruby realized that it barely had any bulbs left to begin with. Looking around, she saw that all the other monsters were dead, too. Ruby chuckled softly in disbelief.

"It's leaving!" Thomas screamed, gathering everyone's attention. "Hurry!"

Minho grabbed Ruby's arm again, jerking her in the direction of the Berg, which was slowly taking off. They arrived when it was about six feet off the ground. Minho shoved her in, then Joan, and then he and Aris pulled each other in, collapsing on the floor of the Berg in a tired heap. Ruby fell down next to them, allowing herself to finally rest. Her breathing was labored, and she looked down at her left arm, only to feel her heart drop to her stomach. The entire shirt was stained a deep red with her blood, and now that her adrenaline was beginning to wear off, the unbearable pain was slowly coming back.

"Who are these two people?"

A man with short red hair was the one who asked the question. He held a pistol at Brenda and the older Hispanic man Ruby didn't recognize.

"Somebody answer me!" He demanded.

"They helped us get through the city," Thomas said quickly. "We wouldn't be here if it weren't for them.

The man jerked his head at Thomas. "You… _picked them up_ along the way?

Thomas nodded uneasily, and Ruby knew this wasn't going to end well. "We made a deal with them," he replied. "Promised they'd get the cure, too. We still have fewer people than we started with."

The man shook his head. "Doesn't matter. We didn't say you could bring citizens!"

As the Berg rose higher and higher, the doors still didn't shut. Ruby squeezed Minho's hand, but then had to wonder when she grabbed it in the first place.

"Well, you told us to come here," Thomas shouted, getting to his feet. "And we did what we had to do!"

The man paused, agitated, before he sighed. "Sometimes I forget how little you people understand what's going on. Fine, you can keep one of 'em. The other goes."

Thomas swallowed. "What do you mean … the other goes?" He asked shakily.

Cocking his gun, he aimed it at Brenda's head. "We don't have time for this!" He yelled angrily. "You have five seconds to choose the one who stays. Don't choose and they both die. One."

"Wait!" Thomas cried.

Ruby looked at Brenda and the other man. Their faces were pale and scared.

"Two. Three."

Ruby closed her eyes, partly because she didn't want to watch, and partly because she was _so_ tired...

"Four!" The man shouted. "Choose right now or they both die!"

Ruby opened her eyes to see Thomas raise a shaking hand to Brenda.

"Kill her."

The man shoved his gun into his waistband and grabbed Brenda by the back of the shirt, dragging her toward the open Berg doors, toward what would be the end for anyone who fell out.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Holy crap, we're almost done with _The Scorch Trials_! Then, it's on to _The Death Cure_. I'm excited just thinking about it! **

**If you have any ideas or constructive criticism, please don't be afraid to let me know! I'm open to nearly anything!**

 **Speaking of ideas, I've been thinking of making a separate story when Wild World is over. It'll just be little oneshots of parts of The Fever Code, and random parts from Paradise between Ruby and everyone (but mostly Minho obviously). What do you think? I'm probably gonna do it regardless, but I'm still curious as to whether you guys would read it or not.**

 **And, as always, if you enjoyed this, please don't forget to follow, favorite, and/or review!**

 **Love,**

 **Nell**


	7. No More

**I do not own the Maze Runner Trilogy.**

 _"_ _Break me down, but I don't fall_

 _There's madness in this burning soul_

 _Let's do this mother, mother yeah_ _."_

 _—Feel It All by Vinyl Theatre_

* * *

Brenda looked at Thomas, her face showing complete and utter betrayal. When the man was halfway to the open Berg door, Thomas leaped into action. Slamming into the man's knees, he tackled him to the ground, his gun clattering to the floor by Ruby. She painstakingly grabbed the gun and cocked it, prepared to shoot if needed. Thomas held him in a chokehold, allowing her to get a clear aim.

"No one else dies," Thomas panted, glancing at Ruby for a split second. "If we haven't done enough to pass your stupid tests, then we fail. The tests are over."

When Thomas released him, the man's face softened, and he scooted back until his back hit the wall. While he did, the cargo doors shut slowly and loudly. Everyone was silent until the doors shut, and Ruby slumped against Minho.

The man spoke again. "My name's David. And don't worry, you're right. It's over. It's all over."

Ruby grit her teeth, but she allowed her hand that was holding the gun to fall to her lap despite her wariness.

Thomas scoffed. "Yeah, we've heard that before," he mocked. "This time we mean it. We're not going to sit back and let you treat us like rats anymore. We're _done_."

Ruby nodded her head firmly and eyed David with a steely gaze. She didn't have to look around to know that everyone else was doing the same. They were _all_ done. For good.

What you don't understand is that everything has gone and will continue to go as planned," David said as he slowly got to his feet. He put his hands in his pockets, continuing, "But you're right, the Trials are complete. We're taking you to a place of safety—a _real_ place of safety. No more tests, no more lies, no more setups. No more pretending.

Minho snorted, grabbing Ruby's good hand. "That's the biggest bunch of klunk I've ever heard in my life," he scoffed.

Ruby nodded in agreement. "How the hell can we trust you sticks after all this?" She demanded. "After you've killed our friends and made us suffer?"

"And what about the cure?" Thomas added. "We were promised. For us and the two who helped us get here. How can we believe anything you tell us?"

"Think what you want for now," David replied nonchalantly. "Things will change from here out, and you'll get the cure,just like you were told. As soon as we get back to headquarters. You can keep that gun, by the way—" he told Ruby, "—we'll even give you some more, if you'd like. There'll be nothing else for you to fight against, no tests or trials to ignore or refuse. Our Berg will land, you'll see that you're safe and cured, and then you can do what you want. The only thing we'll ever ask you to do again is to listen. Only to listen. I'm sure you're at least intrigued by what's behind all this?"

"No more games," Thomas spoke in a surprisingly calm voice, one that held dangerous undertones.

Minho nodded, squeezing Ruby's tightly. "First sign of trouble, we start fighting. If that means we die, then so be it."

David grinned, but Ruby still felt unsettled. "You know, that's exactly what we predicted you'd do at this point." He chuckled and motioned to a small door at the back of the cargo hold. "Shall we?"

"What's next on the bloody agenda?" Newt asked next.

"Just thought you'd like to eat something," David replied, "maybe take a shower. Sleep. It's a very long flight."

Everyone shared a look, but they all stood up to follow him soon enough. Minho stood, holding out his hand to pull Ruby up. She took his hand, but as she tried to stand, her legs didn't want to comply. They shook, and she realized that she was sweating profusely. The pain in her arm was making itself known again, but this time, Ruby wasn't sure if she'd recover.

"Whoa, Ru, you good?" Minho asked as he grabbed her shoulders.

She furrowed her eyebrows. "Whaddya mean? 'M fine." She tried to stand again, but fell into Minho's arms once more.

"She doesn't look so good," Newt said.

 _When did he get here?_ Ruby thought sluggishly.

"Guys, her arm!" Frypan called, grabbing it gently. "How long has she been bleeding?"

"Since the fight with the monsters," Joan replied nervously, looking at Ruby with wide eyes.

Ruby tried to wave them off. "Hey, I, I'm fine..." Her already shaking legs buckled. She looked to her arm and noticed that the shirt was completely soaked in blood now, and it was running down her arm,

The pain in her arm was growing unbearable. It was all she could think about, and everything else seemed to fade into the background. Somewhere, she could feel someone grab her arms and someone else grab her legs as they began to carry her forward.

"Hang on, Ru," she heard Minho whisper, but his voice was muddled, like her ears were underwater. "Just hang on a little bit longer."

"I'm tired," she whimpered. She wanted to sleep. Why wasn't she allowed to sleep?

In the background, she could hear a woman asking what was wrong, and Minho hurriedly explained what was the matter with her. Ruby couldn't quite make anything else out, and everything was getting a little fuzzy.

"Ruby?" The woman asked loudly, causing Ruby to wake up again. "I need you to stay with us, okay?" She grabbed her wrist. "Her pulse is getting weaker," she said to someone behind her. "I'd estimate that she's lost about thirty percent of her blood by now."

"Why won't anyone let me sleep?" Ruby rasped quietly.

"Because, Ruby, you're still very important," a man told her as they shifted her to a bed. "We're going to fix you now, Ruby. Don't forget, WICKED is good."

The world faded to black.

* * *

She was back in the Maze.

 _Oh, God, tell me this is just another dream,_ she thought anxiously as she began running through the corridors to the Homestead. She turned corners, leaped over trenches, and occasionally ran her hand over the ivy-covered walls as she went, remembering the simpler times.

Out of nowhere, she felt something wrap around her torso, flinging her body through the threshold of the Maze and into the soft grass of the Homestead.

"Ru!" It was Minho.

"What the hell?" Ruby grumbled as he hugged her tightly. "I need to breath, stick."

Minho sat her up, releasing her just a little so they could look each other in the eye. "Ruby, you—" he paused to collect himself before continuing, "—do you remember anything?"

Ruby furrowed her eyebrows. "I remember that guy telling us everything was over, and falling, and then... nothing."

"You've been out for five days now, Ru," Minho said quietly. He hugged her again, burying his face into her shoulder. "Shuck, are you actually awake? I can't believe this. They wouldn't tell us anything about you, and then they took Thomas, too. They said he had the Flare already and it was too late for him."w

"I dunno if I'm awake," Ruby replied, "but I don't really think that Thomas has the Flare. If you ask me, I think he's more sane than most people at WICKED."

Minho snorted despite himself. "Yeah, good that."

They sat in silence for a while until Ruby felt something tugging in the back of her mind.

"I think I'm waking up," she murmured.

And everything went black.

* * *

The room she woke up in was completely white. Even the bed she was on and the small bedside table were all impossibly white. Looking around, Ruby saw that there was no one else in the room, and there was no one else in the room. Her clothes, a sports bra, T-shirt, pants, and socks, were just as white as the rest of the room. Ruby sat up slowly, rose from the bed, and walked around on shaky legs. She made her way to the door, and, just before she got to it, she walked straight into a wall, just like the one the Rat Man hid behind only a few days ago. She placed her hands on the wall carefully and screamed.

There was something wrong with her arm. More specifically, there was something wrong with her _new_ arm.

She should've noticed the lack of feeling in her left arm. Sure, she could feel pressure, but she couldn't truly feel things with it. She ran her hand—the one that was still human—up the... thing attached to her shoulder. It was plated metal, smooth and sleek. Its shape was identical to hers—muscle and all. She pulled back the sleeve of her shirt, revealing that the prosthetic extended into her shoulder and trapezius area.

Ruby felt bile rising in her throat, but she forced it down. Breathing deeply, she flexed her new arm. The joints moved effortlessly, almost like it was still her regular arm. She leaned against the invisible wall and slid down until she hit the floor. She ran her fingers over the cool metal again, stopping short when she felt words etched into the shoulder. Straining her neck, she struggled to read the small words on the arm, only to feel sick once again. The words were the same as the tattoo on her back.

 **Property of WICKED. Group B, Subject B6. The Soldier.**

She swallowed thickly. Raising her new arm, she slammed firmly into the white wall once. It didn't break, but now there was a small fist-shaped crater in it.

 _Good,_ she thought to herself. WICKED was going to pay for what they did to her, for what they did to her friends.

She eyed the dent in the wall with slight satisfaction. It wasn't much, but it was a start. Maybe there was no escaping WICKED, but she was sure as hell going make them pay.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Here you go! Next chapter will be starting _The Death Cure._ I'm excited** **—what about you guys? There are huge plans for Ruby—and Joan and (maybe) Malala—in the coming chapters, so get ready! If you have any ideas or constructive criticism, don't be afraid to let me know! Speaking of ideas, I'm still on the fence about Ruby's WICKED subject title—her original one was The Conscience, but I felt like that didn't quite fit. If you have a better one, please let me know!**

 **Also, if you're wondering about how Ruby and Minho didn't notice her new arm in the Maze, it was because since Ruby didn't know it existed, it didn't appear with her in the dream.**

 **Huge thanks to everyone who commented, favorited, and followed. You guys are a blessing, and your support means so much to me!**

 **And, as always, if you enjoyed this, please favorite, follow, and/or review!**

 **Love,**

 **Nell**


	8. Back Together

**I do not own the Maze Runner Trilogy.**

 _"_ _Hey, I'm a broken machine_

 _I can do anything_

 _I've got nothing to hide_

 _Now I start to dream_

 _I'm a mechanical thing_

 _With a layer of shit_

 _And nothing bothers me now_ _."_

 _—Broken Machine by Nothing But Thieves_

* * *

Ruby had no idea how long they kept her in that room. Days? Weeks? There was no way for her to keep time; WICKED had taken her watch whenever they 'fixed' her arm. For some reason, there had been no more dreams that she shared with Minho, and a small part of her was relieved. She didn't want him to see her like this; WICKED had made her into something less human, and the very idea disgusted her.

Every day, they would open a slot at the bottom of the door and give her her meals, and despite not wanting to, she would give in and eat them every time. The only other thing she had to do was to exercise and get used to her new arm, and that's what she did. The walls were littered with small craters as she tested the strength of her arm. Soon, she had gotten the hang of it.

Finally, the door opened.

Ruby had played out the scenario in her head so many times; how she would rush at whoever came through and run out the door, but she was surprised to find herself standing completely still as the Rat Man entered the room. Something told her that the invisible barrier was back up.

"Good morning Ruby," he said formally, walking towards her. When he stopped, he folded his hands neatly behind his back, studying her intently.

Ruby snorted. "Yeah?" She scoffed. "What's so good about it?"

"Don't worry; you'll be hearing plenty of positive news today. Trust me."

"Trust you?" Ruby asked coldly. She wanted to scream, to yell, to _punch_ _someone_ , but she knew better. She had to wait, bide her time. "You lock me in here, turn me into something less than human—" she wiggled her metal fingers for emphasis, "—and you expect me to _trust_ you? You chose smart kids, remember?"

"Yes," Rat Man responded after a beat, "we did choose intelligent subjects. But, on a more important note, do you think this is something we enjoy? That we find happiness in making you suffer? It's all for a reason, one that will soon become clear to all of you." His eyes were wide and his jaw was clenched so hard that Ruby could see veins poking out on his neck.

Ruby snorted. "Whatever, _stick_."

"You should be thanking us," Rat Man said once he composed himself. Motioning to her prosthetic, he continued, "You had lost too much blood, and that arm of yours was too far gone to salvage. We gave you a new one, a better one. The metal used was a recent development before the whole world fell apart; it hadn't even gotten to the market yet. It's an alloy composed of of steel, titanium, chromium and platinum. They called it avelite."

Ruby didn't say anything. She just clenched her jaw, glancing down at the thing attached to her body. "So, what now then?" She asked finally, tearing her eyes away from the metal arm.

"I came here to tell you that you're leaving here today."

Staggering back, Ruby cursed herself for the bit of hope that entered her involuntarily. "How can I believe you?" She demanded quietly.

The Rat Man nodded his head from side to side, considering her question. "You don't have to, I suppose," he answered finally. "But it's the truth."

Ruby sighed. "Why lock me in here at all, then?" She didn't even feel angry anymore; she was just... empty.

"Variables," Rat Man responded simply. He walked back to the door, opening it. "Now come on, let's get you cleaned up. And just so you know, you're being watched. Try anything and there'll be consequences."

Ignoring his last statement, Ruby followed him out of the room and back into the real world, back to reality.

* * *

He had given her half an hour to shower and some new clothes for when she finished. As she dried off with a towel, she found herself surprisingly glad that they had given her a sweatshirt that was a few sizes too big. She pulled on a sports bra, the maroon tank top, and the maroon sweatshirt. Then, faded jeans and tennis shoes, and even a watch. It was a new one; her old one had been covered in blood from her arm.

As she glanced in the steamy mirror, she stiffened when she saw the foggy image of her metal hand peeking out from under her sleeve, and she quickly pulled the sweatshirt down to cover it. What would Joan, Harriet, Sonya, and Malala say when they saw it? What would Aris say? Hell, what would Frypan, Newt, and Thomas say?

 _God, what would_ Minho _say?_

Ruby felt sick. Why would they accept her like this? She wasn't even _her_ anymore. She was just... _less_. There was no way anyone would accept her like this, and she understood it completely. She didn't accept herself, either. Glancing at the mirror one last time, she grit her teeth and stalked out of the room, her hair still damp.

She ignored the Rat Man as he lead her down a hallway, only stopping when she saw a door leading to a room that was cracked open. She could hear loud chatter coming from the room, and she knew that's where the others were. Apprehensively, she stopped short when she got to the door, swallowing nervously.

"All of your friends went through similar tests for this phase of the Trials," said the Rat Man. He didn't seem to notice her anxiety as he pushed open the door.

As Ruby stepped in, she felt relieved to see so many familiar faces. Those from Group A and B were there, smiling and laughing, and it almost made her smile, too.

"Ruby!"

Suddenly, she was attacked with a hug from the side, and Ruby thanked whatever god was up there that Joan hugged her right side and not her left. She didn't want to explain her arm yet.

"It's good to see ya shank!" Frypan called from a row of seats where he sat next to Newt and Minho. Near them, she could see Harriet, Sonya, Aris, and Malala.

She finally let her emotions spill out, and she grinned uncontrollably, hugging Ruby with her real arm. "It's good to see you kid," she whispered as she buried her face in Joan's hair. When she put her down, Joan grabbed her hand, pulling her over to Minho.

"See?" Joan called out in her thick accent. "I told you she would be fine!"

Minho chuckled at her, but his eyes were locked on Ruby. "You were right, kid," he murmured, smiling softly. "Good that." He studied Ruby carefully, and his eyebrows furrowed when he saw her sleeve coming down to cover her left hand.

"Hey" Frypan began, seeming to notice the same thing. "What's goin' on with your arm?"

Feeling anxiety bubbling up in her stomach, Ruby cleared her throat. "Uh, nothing," she answered, looking down. "I'm fine."

"That's the biggest load of bloody klunk I've ever heard," Newt interjected, scowling at her. "You were covered in blood and passed out. What's wrong with your buggin' arm?"

Ruby paused, looking to where her left arm once was. "That's the thing," she said quietly, "it's not mine. Not anymore." Quickly, before she could regret it, she reached over and pulled up her sleeve, revealing the metal prosthetic. "They had to amputate it," continued Ruby, looking at the ground, her shoes, anywhere but the faces of those she considered her friends.

Suddenly, she felt someone grab the metal arm carefully. Startled, Ruby looked up to see that Minho had gotten up from his seat and had grabbed her hand with his, studying it intently. Ruby held her breath, waiting for him to tell her to get the _hell_ away from him, that she wasn't the same Ruby he knew. And she would understand. If she could, she'd tell _herself_ to stay away from her. Unfortunately, she was stuck with the arm.

"Looks pretty badass, Ru," He told her finally, smirking a little, bringing her out of her thoughts. "You still look great." With that, he began walking back to his seat, pulling her with him.

"Maybe it'll help us beat the klunk out of these slintheads," Newt said, leaning his head back and glaring at the ceiling.

Ruby gaped. "I— _what?_ "

"Whaddya mean, 'what?'" Newt demanded, looking at her, unimpressed. "You're still _you_ , shuckface."

Minho nodded, gently letting go of Ruby's metal hand, choosing to glance over at the doors, which were opening once more.

"Well, I've been shucked and gone to heaven," crowed Minho. "It's Thomas!"

The others cheered in agreement, and Ruby found herself clapping along, ignoring the blunt pain on her right hand that came with slapping it against metal.

Thomas grinned uncontrollably like Ruby had, until he saw Teresa. His smile dropped as they stared at each other, but he was brought out of it when Minho and Newt made their way over to him, slapping him on the back. Giving them a small smile, Thomas moved past them, going to Teresa. The two followed him, and Ruby found herself making her way over to them as well.

"That's almost as sweet as that time she slammed the end of a spear into your shuck face," she heard Minho say as she made her way closer. She held back a laugh.

Frypan laughed, adding, "True love indeed. I'd hate to see what happens when these two have their first _real_ fight."

"Amen," Ruby snickered, standing in between Minho and Newt. "That'll be what kills us all."

Thomas rolled his eyes, about to respond when Rat Man came into the room. "Everybody take a seat," he ordered, clapping his hands as he made his way through the aisles. "We've got a few things to cover before we remove the Swipe."

Everyone faltered at Rat Man's words. _Remove the Swipe?_

Minho tensed next to her, and she grabbed his hand. Not looking away from the WICKED man, Minho squeezed her hand tightly.

Rat Man stood at the podium, gripping the sides. Forcing another smile, he spoke again. "That's right, ladies and gents. You're about to get all your memories back. Every last one of them."

* * *

 **A/N**

 **I am so so sorry you guys! I haven't updated this story since March! My computer's been acting weird, and it's been getting increasingly difficult to use it. Supposedly my parents will let me take it to get it fixed sometime next week.**

 **To the two guests that commented, thank you both so much for reading this, and I hope this chapter was up to par!**

 **Anyway, what do you guys think? If you thought that I just blew off everything with Ruby's new arm, don't worry; there's more to come with that! Also, if you enjoyed this chapter, be sure to follow, favorite, and/or review!**

 **Love,**

 **Nell**


	9. The Swipe

**I do not own the Maze Runner trilogy.**

 _"_ _When I go into the ground,_

 _I won't go quietly, I'm bringin' my crown_

 _When I go into the ground,_

 _Oh, they gotta bury me, bury me face down._ _"_

 _—_ _Bury Me Face Down by grandson_

* * *

 _"_ _That's right,_ _ladies and gents. You're about to get all your memories back. Every last one of them_ _."_

Ruby staggered back, almost unable to wrap her mind around what she had heard. Was she delirious or something? There was no way. Minho placed his hand on her shoulder, straightening her.

"Easy, Ru," he murmured, guiding her into a seat. He sat down beside her, rubbing his jaw. Soon, Thomas joined them, looking just as stunned as Ruby was.

Swallowing, Ruby glanced around the room, looking from person to person. _Could it really be this easy?_ She thought. _After_ everything _they're giving our memories back? Just like that? Something's wrong._

"As you were informed in your one-on-ones," Rat Man interrupted after clearing his throat, "the Trials as you've known them are over. Once your memories are restored, I think you'll believe me and we can move on. You've all been briefed on the Flare and the reasons for the Trials. We are extremely close to completing our blueprint of the killzone. The things we need—to further refine what we have—will be better served by your full cooperation and unaltered minds. So, congratulations." He smiled without feeling at them.

Ruby clenched her jaw, but before she could say anything, Minho spoke up.

"I ought to come up there and break your shuck nose," he said, his voice devoid of all emotion. There was a fire in his eyes that backed his threat. "I'm sick of you acting like everything is peachy—like more than half of our friends didn't _die_."

Sighing through her nose, Ruby grabbed Minho's hand, and he gripped it tightly.

Newt stood, his entire body trembling with suppressed rage. "I'd love to see that rat nose smashed!" He yelled.

Even though she wasn't going to say anything, Ruby wholeheartedly agreed.

Rat Man rolled his eyes, as if they were severely inconveniencing him and he had _much_ better things to be doing at the moment. "First of all, each of you has been warned of the consequences should you try to harm me. And rest assured, you're all still being watched. Second, I'm sorry for those you've lost, but in the end it'll have been worth it. What concerns me, though, is that it seems that nothing I say is going to wake you people up to the stakes here. We're talking about the survival of the human race."

Minho breathed in deeply, and Ruby squeezed his hand. Clenching his jaw, he looked at her, and she shook her head minutely. He squeezed her hand again and huffed.

Thomas spoke up as the voice of reason. "Let's all just slim it," he said. "Let's hear him out." His voice was surprisingly even, and Ruby looked around Minho to stare at him. There was no way he was buying this klank, was he?

Why should we trust you people to… what was it called? The Swipe?" Frypan demanded from beside Ruby. "After everything you've done to us, to our friends—you want to remove the Swipe? I don't think so. I'd rather stay stupid about my past, thank you very kindly."

Ruby clapped him on the soldier. "Fancy that," she agreed. "I don't buy one bit of it."

There was a pause, and then—

"WICKED is good."

Everyone whipped their heads to the source of the voice, Teresa.

"What?" Frypan asked.

"WICKED is good," she repeated, louder this time. She looked up. "Of all the things I could've written on my arm when I first woke up from my coma, I chose those three words. I keep thinking about it, and there has to be a reason for that. I say we just shut up and do what the man says. We can only understand this with our memories back."

"I agree!" Aris called loudly.

Ruby snorted. "Buncha crackheads," she muttered under her breath.

The room broke into pandemonium, mostly with Group A siding with Frypan and Group B siding with Teresa and Aris.

"Harriett, Sonya," Ruby called from across the room, looking to the two girls she trusted with her life. "You guys can't be serious! After all that's happened? After all those sticks have done to us?"

Harriett and Sonya shared an uneasy look. Swallowing, Harriett looked back to Ruby. "Ru, I—we just wanna know. We want to remember our families. Don't you want that?"

"In _this_ world?" Ruby scoffed. "If my family's not dead, they're probably sick with the Flare. I don't wanna remember that."

The noise grew louder and louder until Rat Man apparently couldn't take it.

"Silence!" He roared, banging on the podium. He faintly reminded Ruby of a toddler who wasn't getting his way. When the room grew quiet once more, he continued. "Look, no one's going to blame you for the mistrust you feel. You've been pushed to your physical limits, watched people die, experienced terror in its purest form. But I promise you, when all is said and done, none of you will look back—"

"What if we don't want to?" Frypan demanded. "What if we don't _want_ our memories back?"

Ruby smiled. _Good. I'm not the only one._

The Rat Man sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Is it because you really have no interest in remembering, or is it because you don't trust us?"

"Well," Ruby spoke up, "if the world really has been as clapped as it is, then I don't want to have to remember my family suffering through that. The fact that I don't trust you sticks is just a bonus."

"Yeah, I can't imagine _why_ we wouldn't trust you," Frypan snorted.

Again, the Rat Man looked at them like they were a bunch of babies throwing a fit. "Don't you realize by now that if we wanted to do something to harm you, we'd just do it?" He asked them, looking down at the podium. He looked up. "If you don't want to remove the Swipe, don't do it. You can stand by and watch the others."

Ruby squinted. She had no idea if the man was bluffing or not.

The room fell silent again, and Rat Man took it as an opportunity. Stepping off the stage, he made his way to the back of the room. When he was there, he turned to face them. "You really want to spend the rest of your lives having no memory of your parents? Your family and friends? You _really_ want to lose the chance to hold on to at least the few good memories you may have had before all this began? Fine with me. But you might never have this opportunity again."

Ruby frowned, her chest tightening. The idea did seem rather enticing, but then she glanced down at the metal limb attached to her person. She looked at Joan, who was staring into her lap, a deep frown set on her face. WICKED left nothing but pain and suffering wherever they went. She couldn't trust them. No matter what. Clenching her jaw, Ruby knew what her choice had to be.

The door shut, signifying the Rat Man's departure. As soon as he was gone, Thomas leaned in to speak to her, Minho, and Newt.

"There's no way we do this," he said. "No way."

Minho squeezed Thomas's shoulder. Amen. Even if I did trust those shanks, why would I _want_ to remember? Look what it did to Ben and Alby?"

Newt nodded in agreement. "We need to make a bloody move soon. And when we do, I'm going to knock a few heads to make myself feel better."

"I hear ya," Ruby muttered, clenching her metal fist.

"Joan!" Teresa called loudly, drawing Ruby's attention. "Joan, please, you have to listen to me." She was pleading with the younger girl, who merely stared calmly. "You're just a kid, so you can't let people like Ruby influence your—"

Before Ruby could say a word, Joan interrupted Teresa with a mirthless laugh. "I know I'm just a kid," she snapped, her childish face seeming to age in an instant. "I may not know much, I may not be able to speak much English, and I may be just a _child_ , but I know some things. I know WICKED can't be trusted. I know they let my friends _die_ , and for what? A cure that _might_ exist? It's clapped. All of it." With that, she stood and made her way to Ruby, wedging herself between her and Frypan.

"I couldn't have said it any better myself," Newt snorted sardonically, a sort of bitter pride on his face.

Thomas nodded. "Yeah. And we do need to make a move soon, but not _too_ soon, though. We can't screw this up—we need to look for our best chance. He glanced to the two girls. "Ruby, Joan, are you two with us?"

Joan nodded resolutely. _"Bien sûr,"_ she answered. "Of course." Everyone looked to Ruby.

Jaw set, Ruby sighed. "I don't know who to trust anymore," she began. "Apparently, I can't trust anyone from my own group anymore, and I sure as hell can't trust WICKED. What I need to know is can I trust you guys?"

The three boys shared a look before turning back to her, all three nodding firmly at the same time.

Ruby grinned. "Then sign me the fuck up."

* * *

Eventually, the Rat Man led everyone out of the auditorium, down a windowless hallway, through several turns, to a large steel door. The WICKED man put a key card to it, and, after a few clicks of the door unlocking, it slid open, grinding against its surroundings, similar to the Maze doors. Inside of the room, there was another door, and Rat Man unlocked it the same way. Inside of it was a long hallway, and Ruby noted that it was incredibly bland: it was beige colored, with no real defining features, other than the beds lining the back wall. Each one had a mask, and a large configuration of tubes and wires.

Motioning to the beds, Rat Man spoke. "This is how we're going to remove the Swipe from your brains. Don't worry, I know these devices look frightening, but the procedure won't hurt nearly as much as you might think."

" _Nearly as much?_ " Frypan piped up. "I don't like the sound of that. So it _does_ hurt, is what you're really saying."

Rat Man nodded, raising his eyebrows. "Of course you'll experience minor discomfort—it _is_ a surgery." He walked over to a machine next to the row of beds. On it was several lights and buttons. "We'll be removing a small device from the part of your brain devoted to long-term memory. But it's not as bad as it might sound, I promise." He pushed some buttons, filling the room with a faint buzzing noise.

"Wait," Teresa interrupted, "Is this going to take away whatever's in there that lets you control us, too?"

Ruby whipped her head back to Rat Man. This was something she wanted to know. An image flashed in her mind. Beth, her stiff movements as she shot Rachel point-blank in the head. Her own stiff body as she found herself moving without thinking, without even wanting to, as she drove her knife into Beth's chest.

"And what about..." Teresa trailed off, glancing to Thomas. Ah. That weird mind trick thing. "Is everything going to be out of there? _Everything?_ "

Rat Man nodded. "Everything except the tiny device that allows us to map your killzone patterns," he replied. "And you didn't have to say what you're thinking because I can see it in your eyes—no, you and Thomas and Aris won't be able to do your little trick anymore. We did turn it off temporarily, but now it'll be gone forever. However, you'll have your long-term memory restored, and we won't be able to manipulate your minds. It's a package deal, I'm afraid. Take it or leave it."

The room broke out into whispers again. It was a lot to think about, after all.

"That's a no-brainer," Frypan joked, grinning. "Get it? No brainer?" Ruby groaned and shoved him lightly.

"Okay," Rat Man called, bringing the attention back to him. "I think we're just about ready. One last thing, though. Something I need to tell you before you regain your memories. It'll be better to hear it from me than to… remember the testing."

"What are you talking about?" Harriett demanded.

Clasping his hands behind his back, the Rat Man had the audacity to look earnest. ""Some of you are immune to the Flare. But… some of you aren't. I'm going to go through the list—please do your best to take it calmly."

* * *

 **A/N**

 **You guys, I am so so sorry it took me this long to update. I promise you, chapter ten will be up by the day after tomorrow at the latest. I owe it to you guys. You've been nothing but supportive and loving with this story, and I can't thank you enough for that. I really hope this chapter met your standards, and I can't wait to write more!**

 **(Honestly, I really love writing Joan and Ruby. They're adorable in my opinion!)**

 **Love,**

 **Nell**


	10. Making a Choice

**I do not own the Maze Runner Trilogy.**

 _"Go on and chase us,_

 _We can't be caught, oh no._

 _Call us contagious,_

 _We're everywhere you go._

 _We have gone too far to turn around_

 _We move too fast to keep us down_

 _Ain't no way we're stopping now."_

 _—Reckless by JAXSON GAMBLE_

* * *

Aside from the humming machines, the room had fallen silent once more. Ruby swallowed, the sick, tight feeling returning to her chest.

Taking the silence as compliance, Rat Man elaborated, "For an experiment to provide accurate results, one needs a control group. We did our best to keep the virus from you as long as we could. But it's airborne and highly contagious." He paused and looked around the room, trying to gauge everyone's reactions.

"Just bloody get on with it," Newt called. "We all figured we had the buggin' disease anyway. You're not breaking our hearts."

"Yeah," Sonya agreed. "Cut the drama and tell us already."

Ruby swallowed. While she did agree with Newt in that she assumed they all had the Flare, she didn't want to think about those who would and wouldn't. She didn't want to think about who would have to leave their friends behind and those who would be condemned to a life of insanity.

Clearing his throat, the Rat Man nodded. "Okay, then. Most of you are immune and have helped us gather invaluable data. Only two of you are considered Candidates now, but we'll go into that later. Let's get to the list. The following people are not immune. Newt, Malala..."

In the back of her mind, Ruby knew Rat Man was still speaking, but she couldn't really focus anymore. Malala. The girl who had been her closest friend since she had stepped foot in that God-forsaken Maze. The girl whose tattoo had dubbed her _The Survivor_ was going to end up as a Crank.

As the names were still being listed, Ruby forced herself to pay attention, letting out a breath of relief to know that Joan's name was never said. Her own name wasn't spoken either, but that revelation left a bitter sort of taste in her mouth.

"I wanted to get that out of the way," Rat Man continued casually, as if he had been talking about the weather instead of some deadly disease, "mainly so I could tell you myself and remind you that the whole point of this operation has been to build toward a cure. Most of you not immune are in the early stages of the Flare, and I have every confidence that you'll be taken care of before it goes too far. But the Trials required your participation."

"And what if you don't figure things out?" Minho demanded.

Rat Man said nothing and walked to one of the beds, putting a hand on the metal device hanging from the ceiling. "This is something we're very proud of here—" he told them, "—a feat of scientific and medical engineering. It's called a Retractor, and it will be performing this procedure. It'll be placed on your face—and I promise you'll still look just as pretty when everything is done. Small wires within the device will descend and enter your ear canals. From there they will remove the machinery in your brain. Our doctors and nurses will give you a sedative to calm your nerves and something to dull the discomfort."

A beat.

"You will fall into a trance-like state as the nerves repair themselves and your memories return," he explained, "similar to what some of you went through during what you called the Changing back in the Maze. But not nearly as bad, I promise. Much of that was for the purpose of stimulating brain patterns. We have several more rooms like this one, and a whole team of doctors waiting to get started. Now, I'm sure you have a million questions, but most of them will be answered by your own memories, so I'm going to wait until after the procedure for any more Q and A. Give me just a few moments to make sure the medical teams are ready. You can take this time to make your decisions." With that, he crossed the room and exited, shutting the metal door behind him.

Immediately, Minho grabbed Ruby's left hand and made his way to Thomas, Joan trailing behind them.

"We should do it," they heard Teresa say.

Joan snorted and grabbed Ruby's other hand, latching on to the older girl.

Thomas sighed deeply through his nose. "Teresa," he began, "I know you're not stupid. But I also know you're in love with WICKED. I'm not sure what you're up to, but I'm not buying it."

"Me neither," Minho chimed in. "They can manipulate us, play with our shuck brains, dude! How would we even know if they're giving us back our own memories or shoving new ones inside us?"

Ruby nodded. "Fancy that. How can we ever trust them?"

Sighing in frustration, Teresa eyed them. "You guys are missing the whole point! If they can control us, if they can do whatever they want with us, make us do anything, then why would they even bother with this whole charade of giving us a choice? Plus, he said they'd also be taking out the part that lets them control us. It feels legit to me."

Minho scoffed. "Well, I never trusted you, anyway. And certainly not them. I'm with Thomas."

"Us too," Joan agreed, stepping closer, still clutching Ruby's hand.

"What about Aris?" Newt asked, limping toward them. "Didn't you say he was with you guys before you came to the Maze? What does he think?"

"I'll go ask him," Teresa said, walking over to where Aris stood with the rest of Group B.

"No need," Ruby muttered. "He'll be with her. All of our group is."

Squeezing her metal hand, Minho commented, "I hate that chick."

Frypan tried to play peacemaker. "Come on. She's not so bad."

"Whatever. If she's doing it, I'm not."

Newt nodded firmly. "Me neither. And I'm the one who supposedly has the bloody Flare, so I have more stake in it than anybody. But I'm not falling for one more trick."

"Let's just hear what she says," Thomas said, even though he looked like he'd rather do the exact opposite. "Here she comes."

"He sounded even more sure than us." Was her simple answer. "They're all for it."

Ruby set her jaw. "Told you," she murmured, swallowing. She felt her eyes growing wet despite herself. If she was being honest, she understood why they wanted to do it, too. It made sense, logically. But this... this wasn't a logical situation. It was a trust situation. WICKED had blown her trust for them to bits, and there was no way of getting it back.

"Well, that settles it for me," Minho spoke loudly, bringing Ruby from her thoughts. "If Aris and Teresa are for it, I'm against it." He let go of her arm to cross his arms across his chest.

Ruby smirked. _Amen to that._

Teresa looked to Thomas, as if she expected him to side with her, but he said nothing. His expression was completely blank.

"Suit yourself." She walked back to Aris and the rest of Ruby's former group.

"Ah, man," Frypan commented, "we can't let them put those things on our face, can we? I'd just be happy back in my kitchen in the Homestead, I swear I would."

"You forget about the Grievers?" Newt asked, raising an eyebrow.

Frypan paused, contemplating. "They never messed with me in the kitchen, now, did they?" he said simply.

Newt shrugged. "Yeah, well, we'll just have to find you a new place to cook." With that, he grabbed Thomas and Minho. "Ruby, Joan," he called, motioning with his head for the two to follow them. "I've had enough bloody arguments," he muttered. "I'm not getting on one of those beds."

Minho squeezed Newt's shoulder. "Me neither."

"They'll have to tie me down," Ruby commented.

"Same here," Thomas agreed, nodding. Then, he whispered, "We'll stick around, play along, and act nice, but as soon as we get a chance, we're going to fight our way out of this place."

* * *

All too soon, Rat Man returned. Thomas looked between his friends (and new allies) before looking to the only adult in the room. More WICKED workers—doctors, it looked like—filled the room, eyeing all of the teens.

Swallowing, Thomas realized the gravity of the situation. How calculated everything must have been, how WICKED must have anticipated their every move. Each doctor took their place beside one of the beds and got to work, fiddling with the machinery next to the beds.

"We've already assigned each of you a bed," Rat Man explained, looking down at a clipboard. "Those staying in this room are…" He rattled of a few names, but neither Thomas nor any of the Gladers were on the list. Joan and Ruby were, though. "... Joan, and Ruby. If I didn't call your name, please follow me."

Ruby shook her head when a doctor tried to guide her by the arm to a bed. "No thank you," she snapped, jerking her arm away, and Thomas noticed with a slight start that her arm was now entirely made of metal. "I'm not doing it," she said firmly to Rat Man.

"Me too," Joan interjected, her voice soft yet firm. It hit Thomas like a punch to the gut how much the young girl often reminded him of Chuck. Just a kid, far too young to be experiencing this sort of suffering. _They all were._

"That's fine," Rat Man replied calmly. "You two'll change your minds soon enough. Stay with me until we've finished distributing everyone else." Thomas tried to hide his shock at how easily he allowed the two to skip the procedure.

He led them to the next room and read off more names. This time, Frypan and Newt were on the list.

"I'm not getting on there, either," Newt declared firmly, crossing his arms. "It's my bloody choice."

The Rat Man pursed his lips, then forced a smile. "Of course. You'll have to wait with me like Ruby and Joan." He motioned to the two girls, who stood stoically side by side. Newt walked over to them, smiling mirthlessly.

"How nice of you to join us!" Ruby said mockingly.

Newt snorted. " 'Course," he muttered, smirking.

"What about you, Frypan?" Thomas asked, turning his attention back to his other friend.

The cook swallowed, looking embarrassed. "I..." he began, "I think I'm going to let them do it."

"Are you crazy?" Minho asked.

Frypan shook his head, holding himself a little taller. "I want to remember. Make your own choice; let me make mine."

Ruby walked over to him with a wry smile on her face and clapped him on the shoulder. "See you later, man," she told him. "I hope you don't regret it."

"Let's move along," Rat Man called impatiently.

Frypan hurried back into the room, and Thomas and his friends followed after Rat Man.

Teresa, Thomas, and Minho weren't called for until the final door, and by that point, Joan had apparently become so bored she hitched a ride on Ruby's back.

"No thanks," Minho declared when it was time for them to go into the room. "But I appreciate the invitation. You guys have a good time in there." He waved mockingly.

"I'm not doing it, either," Thomas said, feeling anticipation build up inside of himself. It was almost time to make a move, he knew.

The Rat Man stared at Thomas, not saying anything.

"You okay there, Mr. Rat Man?" Minho asked in mock concern.

Rat Man never looked away from Thomas, his face contorted in barely concealed anger. "My name is Assistant Director Janson. Learn to respect your elders."

"You quit treating people like animals and maybe I'll consider it," Minho shot back. He moved toward Ruby, grabbing her metal hand. "And why are you goggling at Thomas?"

Finally, Janson looked to Minho. "Because there are many things to consider," he replied smoothly. "But very well. We said you could choose for yourselves, and we'll stand by that. Everyone come inside and we'll get things started with those willing to participate."

Thomas felt a shiver. Their moment was coming. He knew it. He looked to Minho and gave him a slight nod, slight smirk forming when he nodded back. They walked into the room behind Newt, Ruby, and Joan.

* * *

Seeing Brenda threw Ruby for a loop. The girl, from what Minho had told her, had helped Group A throughout the Scorch. So what was she doing with WICKED?

"Do you think she's a Variable or something?" She asked Minho when he joined her and Newt in the back of the room. She shifted Joan on her back.

Minho shrugged. "Dunno," he muttered. "I'm not really sure about anyone anymore."

Thomas joined them.

Before any of them could say anything, Janson spoke up again. "You five rebels are being watched. Don't even think about trying anything. Armed guards are on their way as we speak."

Ruby swallowed, feeling uncomfortable. Watched? That was just great.

"That's a bunch of klunk," Minho spoke, as if he could read her thoughts. "I think we should take our chances, see what happens."

Suddenly, three men and three women burst into the room, dressed in all black and with rope, tools, and ammunition strapped to their backs. They all held large, bulky weapons. They crackled with electricity, a sort of blue lightning. They aimed them at Ruby and the boys.

"We waited to bloody long," Newt said lowly, his voice sharp.

"They would've caught us out there anyway," Thomas replied quietly. "Just be patient."

Janson walked to the guards, motioning to their weapons. "These are called Launchers," he helpfully informed them. "These guards will not hesitate to fire them if any of you cause trouble. The weapons won't kill you, but trust me when I say that they'll give you the most uncomfortable five minutes of your life."

"What's going on?" Thomas asked, eyes wide. "You just told us we could make this choice ourselves. Why the sudden army?"

Ruby nodded in agreement.

"Because I don't trust you," was the simple answer. "We hoped you would do things voluntarily once your memories were back. It would just make things easier. But I never said we don't still need you."

Minho clutched her hand tighter. "What a surprise. You lied again."

Rat Man shrugged. "I haven't lied about a thing. You made your decision, now live with the consequences." He motioned to the door. "Guards, escort Thomas and the others to their rooms, where they can dwell on their mistakes until tomorrow morning's tests. Use whatever force is necessary."

* * *

 **A/N**

 **So, there's chapter 10! What did you guys think?**

 **Later chapters might be a little slow coming out because I'm going to be rewriting a lot of my stories. Not this one, though. I'm proud of my work, and I'm very satisfied with it. My other stories (really all of them except Can You Hear Me) I'm not very proud of and will edit severely.**

 **Happy new year's, guys!**

 **Love,**

 **Nell**


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